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His place in history is pretty much assured - so doesn't matter if and when LD decides to play again. Although I was actually expecting him to accumulate enough pts to qualify for the World Championships since it is in China this year .......

His leave now officially finishes in end March which means he will skip the All England that he recently announced he would play in. As to whether he will play in the Sudirman Cup is still uncertain, it depends on his fitness condition and form closer to the event.

No wonder the badzine article said he would miss the German, All England, Swiss and India Opens, the Sudirman Cup is uncertain, and his comeback should begin with the SG and INA Opens. Indeed, no smoke without fire. For me, I'm disappointed he's not playing in the AE which to me is a special and prestigious if not major championship. Frankly, considering his current form or lack thereof, I somewhat doubt he can win it even if he takes part in it as his first strong comeback event.

Also of concern is when he does resume competition in June after a break of 10 months , he would probably struggle to get back into best shape for an even longer time than if he were to come back in March. That means my confidence in him defending his world championship title in August is in serious doubt. The crown is likely to be fought between Lee CW and Chen Long with the former the slightly bigger favourite to take his first major title. Meanwhile, it's clear China has to rely on Chen Long to deliver the goods and handle Lee CW for who else can take him on; this looks to be the situation for the rest of the year, I think.

I'm still left wondering why Lin Dan changed his mind about coming back in March starting with the AE or perhaps German GPG prior to it. I venture to say it may have to do with Xie Xingfang's pregnancy (not sure at what stage) as I've said, for he won't want to be away when his wife gives birth bearing in mind his family now comes first. The answer will become clear in due course. Wish Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang the very best.

Looking forward to him returning to world badminton, it will be interesting to see what the current power rankings of the players are now. In my opinion LCW is #1 at the moment, I'd be surprised if LD even makes the final, but he's surprised me before!

He also revealed that Lin Dan's leave will expire end Feb but no mention when he is resuming national training. My concern is if he doesn't start his systematic training with the national squad now, how is he going to prepare well for the All England?

That's why I think he will struggle to regain his form for at least the first 3 to 6 months beginning from March. So fans of Lin Dan had better brace themselves for a rollercoaster ride during the first 6 months of his comeback.

Personally, I am realistically not expecting much from him for I doubt he will ever be the same again after having peaked twice in his career so far. The more so when I consider the following reasons:
1) His family now comes first as he has openly declared;
2) He has been there and done that so many times, so where is the motivation to do more of the same?
3) He carries on playing badminton for the love of the sport not so much in pursuit of accolades;
4) His training regimen will be unlike before to suit his present needs and situation - in other words, don't expect him to train as hard and intense as before considering not just his age but also his changed circumstances;
5) He will continue to be selective, even more so going forward, in the tournaments he take part in , giving priority to competitions where national glory is at stake - viewed from another angle, he won't mind not winning the individual titles but will give of his best in the team championships.

If I may humbly say so, of the above reasons, I believe lack of sufficient motivation should be the main cause of his not being able to maintain top form throughout. However, though that may be so, I won't entirely rule out the possibility of Lin Dan peaking for the third time nearer to the Rio Olympics 2016 should he really stay on till then but whether he wins it or not is another matter. Nevertheless, I'm always reminded of the Swedish legend Bjorn Borg who suddenly shocked the tennis world by announcing his retirement at age 26 while still at the height of his career citing the lack of motivation as the primary reason.

Whatever the outcome, I will cherish and regard every tournament Lin Dan plays in from now on as a bonus while at the same time prepared to accept Chen Long's readiness to take over the mantle from him. Regardless whether he wins any more titles hereafter, his place in history as the greatest ever is unchallenged as many would agree with me. Let's continue to enjoy Lin Dan's era while it's still our good fortune to do so.

He felt that the AE which starts on 5th Mar is too rush for him when he returns to the national team for intensive,systematic training at end Feb. Another reason is during the six-month break,he actually didn't spend enough time with his family due to all those commercial,official and felicitations activities, so he wants to make it up to them by keeping them accompany for a period during the Chinese New Year, which means his original intention to start training in Feb will also be disrupted;hence his last-minute decision to pull out of the AE despite having submitted his application form as confirmed by Xia Xuanze.

Lin Dan really walks the talk when he said his family comes first. Obviously, also lack of motivation having won the AE 5 times already, so I won't expect him to be driven to break Rudy Hartono's 8 times record which is theoretically possible if he carries on until Rio'16. Just look at Li Xuerui who is competing in both the German Open on the 26th Feb and the AE on 5th Mar.

This being the case, I'm at the same time not too optimistic about his participation in the WC'13 in view of the qualification criteria. Just let it be or go with the flow, what else.

How did Lin Dan earn the nickname or epithet in the laudatory sense 'Super Dan' ?

It was thanks to none other than Peter Gade who, after losing to Lin Dan in the 2004 All England Final 2-1 (he won the 1st set before Lin Dan came from behind to take the title for the first time), in the post-match interview where impressed by Lin Dan's forceful dynamic play called him ' Super Dan ! '

Thanks for all these informations, Justin L. We really appreciate it.
Well... Everything he's going to do in the near future seems to be a bonus. With other words: Do not expect anything from him.

And what I wish for WC 2013: Do not let Lin Dan take part if there are 3 or 4(!) slots free for chinese players. He just simply doesn't deserve it to play. Why give him another chance when the youngsters are fighting for their hard earned points to save them a slot for WC2013?
There should be a rule that all participants of WC's have to do minimum number of tournaments. Or: The association is no allowed to choose who's participating. Only ranking by every single players counts.

Thanks for all these informations, Justin L. We really appreciate it.
Well... Everything he's going to do in the near future seems to be a bonus. With other words: Do not expect anything from him.

And what I wish for WC 2013: Do not let Lin Dan take part if there are 3 or 4(!) slots free for chinese players. He just simply doesn't deserve it to play. Why give him another chance when the youngsters are fighting for their hard earned points to save them a slot for WC2013?
There should be a rule that all participants of WC's have to do minimum number of tournaments. Or: The association is no allowed to choose who's participating. Only ranking by every single players counts.

So true, that would be really unfair for them... but Lin Dan would still possibly have the best chances to win.

Thanks for all these informations, Justin L. We really appreciate it.
Well... Everything he's going to do in the near future seems to be a bonus. With other words: Do not expect anything from him.

And what I wish for WC 2013: Do not let Lin Dan take part if there are 3 or 4(!) slots free for chinese players. He just simply doesn't deserve it to play. Why give him another chance when the youngsters are fighting for their hard earned points to save them a slot for WC2013?
There should be a rule that all participants of WC's have to do minimum number of tournaments. Or: The association is no allowed to choose who's participating. Only ranking by every single players counts.

You're welcome,Accordaz. Personally, I'm disappointed at his change of mind though I understand and respect his decision.

At the same time, I'm of the opinion that as the defending champion he deserves automatic qualification. In soccer, for example, that was the case until 2004 when FIFA felt that 4 years is a bit too long for a team (of 11 players) to maintain their form so the right was terminated. But this shouldn't apply to badminton MS discipline, the more so in Lin Dan's case when he was World Champion 4 times in the last 6 years. Never mind, it's futile and too late to talk about this.

I'm quite certain CBA,esp LYB and XXZ are fully prepared for such contingencies and completely aware of Lin Dan's current overall situation. To put it simply, nobody is indispensable, not in CBA for sure with their crop of top players and rich depth in reserves.

Meanwhile, I'll place more hopes on Chen Long except that for this coming AE and WC his chances of toppling Lee CW is at most 50% but he will only get better and better and may possibly surpass the latter by year end;furthermore,time is on Chen Long's side.